BY FOLUSHO ALADE, ABUJA.
“If given the opportunity, I believe I can add value to Nigeria’s telecommunications industry” those were the words of BARRISTER ADELEKE MOROHUNFOLU ADEWOLU a nominee for the position of Executive Commissioner representing the SOUTH-WEST GEOPOLITICAL ZONE on the Governing board of the NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION while answering questions from members of the Senate Committee on Communications during a screening exercise on Monday 7 October 2019.
ADEWOLU was presented to the SENATOR OLUREMI TINUBU (LAGOS CENTRAL) led Senate committee on communications by SENATOR BABAJIDE OMOWORARE, the Senior Special Adviser to PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI on NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MATTERS for the Senate.
In his remarks SENATOR UBA SANI a member of the committee representing KADUNA CENTRAL SENATORIAL district asked the nominee to tell the committee members the meaning of AGGREGATOR LICENSES recently issued to some telecom companies by the NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION NCC and also proffer solutions to the issues of poor quality services experienced by telecoms subscribers across the country.
Responding, ADEWOLU said the AGGREGATOR LICENCES recently issued to about 9 operators are value added services licences in the industry to provide services such as SHORT CODES and specific information to subscribers to help compliment the efforts of the big telecoms players.
“aggregators are a new form of license, I think the first set of them were issued in august of 2019, about 9 people have been granted aggregator licenses by the ncc” he said.
“Aggregator services are something called value added services, they are different from other players in the telecoms sectors, they focus on specific things for instance short codes, they are additional services to the services offered by the normal mobile operators, while normal mobile operator provides mobile telephone lines and data services , aggregator services are additional services such as games, specific information on travel , news etc.
“They are a much smaller player in the telecoms industry”
“But they are a major part of the digital revolution which is to explore our vast potentials as a country to create employment” according to ADEWOLU.
Speaking further ADEWOLU said the problems of poor quality telecoms services are as a result of inadequate infrastructures to meet the exponential growth in the subscriber base which has increased from 500,000 in 2003 to about 176million presently.
ADEWOLU cited the inadequate number of BASE TRANSCEIVER STATIONS BTS which currently stands at less than 50,000 whereas the country needs about 120,000 BASE TRANSCEIVER STATIONS BTS to serve its 774 local government areas across the country.
‘’The sector has grown from 500,000 users in 2003 to 176million GSM users, that kind of exponential growth is likely to come with its challenges.
“But the challenges affecting quality of services such as drop calls are majorly the level of infrastructures he said.
“Nigeria is a vast nation, it requires about 120,000 BTS to serve the country so that in every one of the 774 local government areas in the country you will not miss your signal .
“In reality as at today we have less than 50,000 BTS stations across the entire nation.
“We also have issues of vandalization, people go into this BTS station to steal generators and fibre optical cables, another challenge is power as virtually all the BTS are powered by generators” he added.
SENATOR SANDY ONOR another committee member talked about the nominee’s ability to cope with Nigeria’s bureaucracy, having stayed abroad for several years.
“we have had situations when Men like you come and are swallowed by the system. Based on your experience, I believe you can add value to our communication sector?” SENATOR ONOR remarked.
BARRISTER ADEWOLU in his response reminded the Senator representing CROSS RIVERS CENTRAL SENATORIAL district that he was born and brought up in Nigeria where he had his PRIMARY, SECONDARY and TERTIARY EDUCATION before being called to the NIGERIAN BAR in 1986.
ADEWOLU also enumerated his experiences as a practicing lawyer, cutting his teeth in the chambers of PRINCE BOLA AJIBOLA, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice under GENERAL IBRAHIM BABANGIDA military government before setting out on private practice, his sojourn in THE UK, return to Nigeria and working with the likes of former Senate President, SENATOR KEN NNAMANI and under the administration of former Governor of OGUN STATE, SENATOR IBIKUNLE AMOSUN.
According to him “since 2010-11 I have been fully on ground in Nigeria”.
“I worked as a special assistant to former senate president, senator KEN NNAMANI from 2005-2007.
“I served as special adviser to the former governor of ogun state, SENATOR IBIKUNLE AMOSUN on research documentation from 201-2015.
“I also served as commissioner for special duties and inter-govermental affairs in ogun state for the past four years” ADEWOLU added.
It would be recalled that the Senate of Nigeria in its sitting on the 26 September 2019 to consider the request of the President and Commander of the Armed Forces, PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI for the confirmation of BARRISTER ADELEKE MOROHUNFOLU ADEWOLU as Executive Commissioner on the Governing board of the NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION NCC, in accordance with SECTION A, SUB-SECTION 1 OF THE NIGERIA COMMUNICATONS ACT 2003.
The request was subsequently referred to the Senate committee on Communications for further legislative actions.
BARRISTER ADELEKE MOROUNFOLU ADEWOLU was born in the month of August of 1964, a native of ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE. He had his primary education in Ibadan. He also had part of his secondary education in the prestigious IGBOBI COLLEGE in LAGOS and ABEOKUTA GRAMMAR SCHOOL in ABEOKUTA.
Tertiary education took him to the then UNIVERSITY OF IFE (now OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE) where he studied CIVIL LAW and was called to the NIGERIAN BAR in October 1986.
ADEWOLU cut his teeth in the legal profession in the chambers of PRINCE BOLA AJIBOLA before opting for private practice and eventually moving to the UNITED KINGDOM in the aftermaths of the JUNE 12, 1993 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS saga.
He continued his Law practice in THE UK after series of re-certification examinations for a couple of years before deciding to come back to Nigeria finally in 2010 to serve his fatherland.
BARRISTER ADEWOLU served as Special Assistant to the former Senate President, SENATOR KEN NNAMANI between 2005-2007. He also served under former Governor of Ogun State and now a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic, SENATOR IBIKUNLE AMOSUN as Special Adviser on Research and Documentation from 2011-2015 and later as Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs from 2015-2019.
If confirmed, BARRISTER ADELEKE MOROHUNFOLU ADEWOLU will occupy the vacant position of Executive Commissioner representing SOUTH-WEST geo-political zone on the governing board of the NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION previously held by MR SUNDAY DARE who was inaugurated as the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports development on the 21st of August 2019.
